Code: Redemption
by TheDusty321
Summary: X.A.N.A. survives by materializing herself and joins the Lyoko Warriors in class. Things don't go according to plan, as a new enemy attacks Kadic. Now, she and the Lyoko Warriors must work together to defeat this enemy. Can they do it? Or, more importantly, can they get along? JxA, UxY, WxX, OxS.
1. XANA Emerges

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. The only thing I own is the story, X.A.N.A.'s human form, and the new antagonist.**

* * *

Somewhere in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, stands an abandoned factory. To most people, there was nothing special about this factory. However, to a group of six teenagers, there's something very special about it, or, rather, underneath it. For there, a short elevator ride away, was an incredible supercomputer, with a virtual world called Lyoko within. The supercomputer had been shut off recently, after the teens had once and for all defeated their nemesis, an evil A.I. named X.A.N.A. who wanted to take over the world and wipe out humanity. They had done so wanting to leave this part of their lives behind. However, they would soon learn that their troubles were not over yet.

That night, one of the scanners needed for virtualization hummed to life. It soon opened and a young girl was lying inside it. She had long black hair and was wearing a short-sleeved black shirt with a red Eye of X.A.N.A. on it that had a long-sleeved red shirt underneath. She was also wearing denim jeans and black sneakers with red laces. She moaned as she opened her red eyes. Now awake, she looked out of the scanner at the room.

"I'm in the Scanner Room." She observed. "It worked. I've successfully materialized myself."

They say appearances can be deceiving. That applied to this girl. Though she looked like a normal human, she wasn't. She was X.A.N.A., the A.I. that the teens thought to be destroyed. As to how she survived, she simply created her own DNA signature some time before she was destroyed and materialized herself using a program that one of the teens, named Jeremie Belpois, had developed to materialize another teen, named Aelita Schaeffer. As to why she materialized herself, as a multi-agent program, she had evolved enough to tell right from wrong and decided to live in peace with Jeremie and his friends. They were unaware of this though.

X.A.N.A. got up and walked to the elevator and went down to the Supercomputer Room, which was on the floor below. The Supercomputer was still off and X.A.N.A. was planning to turn it back on. She got out of the elevator and walked up to the switch. She flipped the switch and the Supercomputer rose out of the floor. The panel opened and the switch for the Supercomputer came out. X.A.N.A. flipped the switch and the Supercomputer turned on with a gust of wind blowing on X.A.N.A. With that done, she went back to the elevator and took it up the Computer Lab. Once there, she got out and sat down at the chair.

"Now, let's get started, shall we?" She said.

What she was doing was simple. She was forging her fake ID, so she could attend Kadic Academy, a boarding school in Sceaux, not too far from the factory. This is where the teens attend school. Given her physical age, X.A.N.A. put herself in the same grade as Yumi Ishiyama, the oldest of the group physically as Aelita didn't age while in Lyoko. With her phony ID completed, Xana Stones set about getting her money for tuition, school supplies, and personal things. She did this by taking small sums of money from a couple of banks across France. Small enough so nobody would notice. Once she was finished gathering money, she placed it all in a bank account she had just created for herself. She then paid for tuition and supplies. With that done, she was officially a new student at Kadic Academy. She would start in the morning.

With everything out of the way, she logged out and called it a night. She took the elevator back to the ground floor. She got out of the elevator and looked up at the moonlight coming through the factory windows. She found a recliner across the floor. This was the recliner Jim Morales was lying on after he got fired due to Jeremie hurting his ankle. Of course, there was a Time Reversion so, technically, Jim was never fired. Nevertheless, Xana walked over to it and laid on it. She closed her eyes and slept for the first time.


	2. Coming to Kadic

Xana woke up the next morning a little tired. The recliner was all right, but she couldn't wait to sleep in a bed. She got up and realized something. She facepalmed. She had forgotten to materialize a book bag. Not that it mattered. It was still early, so she didn't have to meet with the principal, Jean-Pierre Delmas, for another few hours. She put her hand down and walked to the elevator and took it down to the Computer Lab. Once there, she created a book bag for herself. She then ran the Code: Earth materialization program. Hopefully, it would work. As the Scanner Room was only a floor down, she opened the hatch and climbed down the ladder. When she got to the scanners, one of them opened to reveal a black book bag with a red Eye of X.A.N.A. on the front pouch. It was a success. Happy at her accomplishment, Xana picked up the book bag and then called the elevator down. The elevator doors opened and she walked in. She entered the code for the ground floor. Once there, she walked out to one of the ropes the Lyoko Warriors use to get down, as there wasn't much of a staircase left. She climbed up and came onto the head of the demolished staircase. She flinched because of the bright sunlight coming into the entryway. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw a box lying there. Surprised, she knelt down next to the box, removed the tape, and opened the box. She found it was the books she had ordered.

'Already?' she thought.

She was surprised her books had come so quickly. In any case, she took out the books and placed them in her book bag. With that, she picked up the box and tossed it down near the recliner. She could straighten it up later. She walked out of the factory and onto the bridge. She opened the hatch and climbed down into the sewers. She took the sewer passage to the Hermitage entrance. It would still be a few hours before she would meet with Delmas, so she didn't want to be seen on campus yet. Once she got to the Hermitage, she spent her time trying to tidy the place up. Books were rearranged on their shelves. Furniture was dusted off. After an hour, the Hermitage wasn't really like new, but it was better. Seeing that it was now an hour before meeting with Delmas, Xana decided to walk over to the academy. She went out the front door and then the front gate. She walked through the forest, passing by the sewer entrance, until she reached the main campus. She continued to the building where Delmas' office is. No students were up yet, so there was no traffic. Jim saw her as she was approaching.

"Hey you!" He shouted to her.

Xana was startled by this and turned towards him.

"May I ask who you are and what you are doing on school grounds at this hour?" He asked.

Xana calmed down and explained.

"I'm Xana Stones and I'm a new student. I'm going to meet with Mr. Delmas so I can get started." She said to Jim.

"Stones, huh? You wouldn't happen to be Aelita's sister, would you?" Jim asked.

"Yes I am, sir." Xana said.

"Ha! That's ridiculous. Aelita has no relatives aside from Odd Della Robbia, as far as I know. You must think I'm some kind of idiot or something." Jim said.

"But sir. I'm telling you the truth. I am Aelita's sister, and consequently Odd's cousin. Besides, I'm already enrolled here, so I am meeting with Mr. Delmas today." Xana said.

"Oh, you'll be seeing Mr. Delmas today. But not to attend this academy." Jim said grabbing Xana's arm.

"Hey! Let go!" Xana said to him.

"What is going on out here, Jim?" asked a voice.

Both Jim and Xana turned to see Mr. Delmas walking out the door.

"Ah, Mr. Delmas, sir. Just the man I wanted to see. I caught this little rapscallion trying to lie her way in here." Jim said to him.

Delmas looked at Xana. His eyes widened a little in recognition.

"Are you Xana Stones?" He asked her.

"Yes, Mr. Delmas." She answered, hoping Jim will let go of her now.

"Well, Jim. Once again, your paranoia has led you astray. If this continues, I might have to let you go." Delmas said to Jim.

Xana looked away at that, remembering when Jim actually was fired. She and the Lyoko Warriors are the only ones who remember this though. Jim let go of her arm and Xana rubbed it.

"Oh. Well, in that case, I'm very sorry, Ms. Stones. One too many people have lied to me in the past, but I'd rather not talk about it. I hope you can forgive me for not believing you." Jim said apologetically.

"That's all right, 'Jimbo'. Maybe I'll see you in Phys. Ed." Xana said.

"I'll have you know that only my friends call me 'Jimbo'." Jim said to her.

"Oh. Okay." Xana said.

"Well, Xana. Let me the first to say, Welcome to Kadic Academy. I do hope you enjoy your time here. Jim will now escort you to your room. I hope you don't mind sharing with your sister." Delmas said to her.

"Oh, no sir. I don't mind at all. Thank you, Mr. Delmas." Xana said.

"You are most welcome, Xana. If you will excuse me, I have things to do." Delmas said.

With that, he left back for his office. Then, Xana heard a strange noise. She realized it was her stomach. She then realized she hasn't eaten anything since materialization.

"Well, sounds like you're hungry, Xana. In that case, let's make this quick, all right? Breakfast starts at 7am and dinner at 7pm. You are not allowed to be in your room between 8am & 4:30pm. You can ask your sister to fill you in on the rest. Lucky for you, breakfast is in half an hour. Now let's go." Jim said as he led Xana to her new room.

They soon reached the room in question and Jim knocked.

"Hey Stones! You awake?" Jim asked.

"Yes I am. But, what are you doing here, Jim?" Aelita said as she opened the door.

"Aelita, meet your new roommate." Jim said to her.

He turned to Xana.

"How about I leave you two alone?" Jim asked, and then left.

"Do I know you?" Aelita asked.

"You should. I am your sister after all." Xana replied.

"My sister? What are you talking about?" Aelita asked.

Then she saw the Eye of X.A.N.A. on Xana's shirt and gasped.

"No. You're supposed to be dead. Jeremie's program should've destroyed you for good." She said.

She started backing away, looking frantically for her cell phone. Xana saw this and tried to calm Aelita down.

"Don't be scared, Aelita. I'm not here to hurt you. I come in peace, honest." Xana said.

Aelita found her phone and grabbed it. She was dialing Jeremie's number when Xana grabbed her hand.

"Aelita. Please. Don't make things worse. Please." Xana pleaded.

"All right." Aelita sighed as she stopped what she was doing. "But, why are you here?" she asked Xana.

"I came here to live with you guys. I've changed, Aelita. I'm not the evil computer virus who wants to kill you anymore. Now, I realize that it might take a while for you all to accept me. After everything I've done, I can't blame you for hating me or being fearful of me. Please, Aelita. As my sister, you must give me a chance. You won't regret it. I can promise you that." Xana explained.

Aelita could tell Xana was being sincere and after thinking it over, nodded.

"Of course, Xana. We are sisters, aren't we?" Aelita said.

Xana hugged her with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, thank you, Aelita. You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that." She said.

Aelita hugged her back and they stayed like that for a while until Xana calmed down. Then, they finally separated. Xana wiped her tears away. Aelita decided to ask Xana something.

"By the way, how did you materialize yourself?" she asked Xana.

"Simple. I created my own DNA sequence and used Code: Earth not long before Jeremie launched his program. As such, I am not a spectre or a possessed human being. I am an A.I. in human form. I am the daughter that Franz Hopper never had. I am Xana Schaeffer, sister to Aelita Schaeffer." Xana said.

Then, her stomach growled again. Xana blushed in embarrassment.

"And I'm so hungry. Is it breakfast time yet?" She asked.

"Not for ten more minutes." Aelita said. "I can show you around if you want, Xana."

"Okay, Aelita. Not to sound like Odd, but I'm starving. There wasn't anything to eat at the factory." Xana said.

Aelita giggled.

"You'll just have to wait a little bit longer, sis. Now, c'mon. There are things to see." She said.

Xana just nodded and they left the room together.


	3. Breakfast

After Aelita finished showing Xana around, it was finally time for breakfast. Xana was particularly antsy as they walked to the cafeteria. They got to the cafeteria and grabbed their trays. Xana was looking for something to eat when she met Rosa.

"My. You're a new face around here. What's your name, kid?" Rosa asked.

"I'm Xana Stones, Aelita's sister. I just got here." Xana replied.

"Xana. That's a nice name for a girl like you. So, what would you like?" Rosa asked.

Xana looked at what was there. She saw some Belgian waffles and decided that they looked good.

"One Belgian waffle, please." Xana said.

"Of course, little lady. And, here, have a croissant." Rosa said.

Once the food was on her tray, Xana went over to get a glass of orange juice. Once that was done, she followed Aelita to the table the Lyoko Warriors usually sat at. Jeremie and Ulrich were the only ones there. Odd was sleeping in and Yumi was eating with her family. William was sitting at the end of the cafeteria, still feeling he wasn't welcome with the rest. Aelita and Xana sat down and were greeted by Jeremie and Ulrich.

"Hi Aelita. Where were you? And, who's this?" Jeremie asked.

"Hello, Jeremie. I was showing this one around Kadic. Now, don't be alarmed. This is my sister, Xana." Aelita said.

Ulrich spat out his drink and Jeremie fell back in his chair, his glasses askew. William heard this and looked up. Everyone else laughed at Jeremie's apparent mishap. Sissi laughed too as she walked up.

"What's wrong, Jeremie? Wake up funny this morning?" she asked.

"It's none of your business, 'Elisabeth'!" Xana said in Jeremie's defense.

Sissi turned to her angrily.

"Don't call me that!" She yelled.

Then she saw whom she was speaking to.

"Who are you anyway?" She asked.

"Xana Stones, Aelita's sister." Xana answered. "And, next time, try to be nicer. You are supposed to be their friend now, right?" She asked.

Sissi opened her mouth to say something, but she decided not to, knowing Xana was right. She was about to offer to help Jeremie up, but saw that he had righted himself as they were talking.

"Um, Jeremie. I'm, uh, sorry. For laughing at you." She said at last.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Sissi. I'm fine." Jeremie said to her.

"Okay then, bye Jeremie. See ya, Ulrich." Sissi said as she left.

Once Sissi was out of earshot, Ulrich glared at Xana. Xana sighed, having expected this reaction from him. She turned to Jeremie. He gave her a similar look, but not as harsh. It was probably because he's grateful for her coming to his defense and driving Sissi off for them.

"What are you planning, huh? Are you trying to turn Aelita and Jeremie against the rest of us?" Ulrich asked.

"Not at all. I simply came here to live with you all. I just happened to meet Aelita first as we now share a dorm room. Being sisters and all, it felt right." Xana explained.

Ulrich didn't look like he bought it. Jeremie, however, looked more willing to accept that explanation.

"Do you honestly think that I'll believe that?" Ulrich asked.

"Calm down, Ulrich. If she had wanted to harm Aelita or us, don't you think she'd have done it by now?" Jeremie asked him.

"Sure, but she could be doing all of this to gain our trust, only to backstab us later on." Ulrich argued.

"Listen, Ulrich." Xana said. "If it will make you trust me, let's go to the factory and scan me. I assure you that my intentions are good and that I am powerless."

With that, Xana dug in without another word. Just as she thought, the Belgian waffle was good. With the waffle down, she grabbed her croissant and ate it. It too was delicious. She grabbed her OJ and drank it down. It was a little tangy, but was great. Finally, Xana, finished with her meal, relaxed on her chair. Aelita giggled.

"Still hungry?" she asked her sister.

"A little, but I'm satisfied right now."

"Let me guess, she hasn't eaten anything since materialization, correct?" Jeremie asked.

"That's right, Jeremie." Aelita said.

Everyone finished their breakfast and then left for the factory since they didn't have class for a while.


	4. Scan Results & Xana's First Day

"Running scanner." Jeremie said. "Data recovery. That's fine, Xana. You can come out now."

Jeremie and the others were at the factory, currently scanning Xana to see if she was telling the truth. Xana climbed through the hatch and walked up to Jeremie.

"So, 'Einstein'. What do the results say?" She asked him, calling him the nickname given to him by Odd.

"It's just as you said. You're a normal human being without any special powers. I don't think that's enough to get Ulrich to trust you, but I was willing to trust you anyway. You did help us out before with Sissi, after all. Besides, if Aelita's willing to trust you, why shouldn't I be?" Jeremie said.

"Thanks, Jeremie." Xana said.

Ulrich said nothing as he stood next to the elevator. Just as Jeremie said, he was not willing to trust Xana just yet despite the Supercomputer saying that Xana was just a normal human being. It didn't matter to him. He still saw Xana as a malevolent A.I. seeking world domination. But, for Aelita's sake, he was willing to try being civil.

"C'mon people! We've got class soon!" Ulrich announced to everyone.

Jeremie got up off the chair and walked on to the elevator with everyone else and put in the code to send it to the ground floor without another word. They got to the campus and went their separate ways. Soon enough, Xana got to her first class, which was English. She was in for a surprise, as this was also Yumi's first class. The teacher saw her and told her to come in. Xana complied.

"_Class!_" she called in English. "_We will be having a new student join us today!"_

The class looked up, Yumi included.

"You may introduce yourself." She told Xana in French.

"_Thank you, madam."_ Xana said to the teacher in English before turning to the class.

She saw Yumi and gasped. She collected herself though.

"My name is Xana Stones. I hope that I'll enjoy my stay at Kadic." She said.

With that, she took her seat, which was right by Yumi. Speaking of Yumi, she was agape.

'This new girl can't be X.A.N.A., right? X.A.N.A.'s dead, after all.' Yumi thought.

She saw Xana turn to her and whisper, "I'll tell you later."

Yumi said nothing as she turned back to the teacher, deciding to concentrate on the lesson. Soon enough, it was time for lunch. Xana and Yumi went together to the cafeteria. They met up with Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Odd. Odd, being the only one of them who hasn't met Xana yet, was surprised.

"Who's this?" he asked.

Xana answered him. "I'm Xana Stones, Aelita's sister and consequently your cousin from Canada."

Odd nearly choked on his lunch when he heard that. With the way he eats, you would wonder how it didn't happen more often.

Anyway, once he could breathe again, he could only utter a "What?"

"That's right, Odd. I'm still alive. Have no fear, for I mean you all no harm. I simply came here to live with you all in peace. Ulrich has yet to completely trust me, but Aelita and Jeremie are willing to trust me. If you don't trust me Odd, and you too, Yumi, that's all right. I understand completely." Xana said to him.

"And what about me?" asked a voice.

They all turned to see William standing right there.

"You not trusting me William comes as no surprise, considering what I've done, to you especially." Xana said sadly.

"It may take a while to forgive you, but I'm willing to trust you, Xana." William said to her.

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" Xana asked.

"Yeah. I saw what happened at breakfast this morning. You were really cool to help Jeremie out like that. Besides, nobody trusts me anymore ever since you know what, so I sympathize with you. For Xana." William said, winking as he said that last part.

Xana was stunned. So was everyone else. Xana eventually pulled herself together.

"Thanks, William. Though, you getting possessed and falling under my control. That was your own fault by being so arrogant. I hope you realize that. And I'm sure everyone here agrees with me." Xana finished.

Everyone looked at her. They all knew she was right, even William.

"Anyway," Xana said, "you, Aelita, and Jeremie trust me. It's Ulrich who doesn't trust me. Odd and Yumi are still up in the air at the moment."

"Well, I trust you, Xana. After that little speech, how can I not trust you? Sorry Ulrich, good buddy, but I'm siding with her." Odd said.

"But, Odd…" Ulrich started.

"We know, Ulrich. She's done some pretty nasty things in the past. But, something tells me she means what she says. Don't ask what, cause I don't know myself." Odd cut off.

Ulrich said nothing this time. Xana turned to Yumi.

"What about you, Yumi?" She asked.

"I'm not all that sure yet." Yumi answered.

Xana looked down.

"Okay. That's all right, Yumi. Like I said before, I understand completely." She said.

Lunch went on without another word. After that, the day went on as normal. Soon enough, it was time to go to sleep. Xana and Aelita were in their room. Xana didn't have any pajamas or anything, so Aelita was willing to give her a spare set she had. It was a black short-sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy red pants. Of course, they suited Xana more than they did Aelita. Plus, they actually fit her. Xana was looking down in sadness, thinking about her day. Aelita was concerned for her new sister.

"What's up, Xana?" she asked.

Xana sighed.

"Aelita. It's just that, despite explaining myself, both Ulrich and Yumi don't trust me. Sure, I understand why, but it still hurts inside. Oh, Aelita. What do I do?" Xana said.

"The only answer I can give you is that you do something to earn their trust. What exactly, I'm not sure. Your chance will come, Xana, I promise." Aelita said.

Xana looked at her.

"I hope you're right, Aelita, because I'm sick of being the bad guy. I want to make up for what I've done." Xana said.

Aelita just nodded as she went to bed.

"Good night, Xana." She said.

"Good night, Aelita." Xana said back.

Without another word, they both went to sleep. Meanwhile, in an unknown location, an evil scientist was plotting his first attack on Kadic Academy, a beautiful pink-haired woman watching from the background.


	5. First Attack Part 1

Xana was woken up by Aelita's phone. It was time to get up and go to breakfast. Aelita was already up and was grabbing her outfit for the day. Xana got up and then facepalmed. She still had nothing since she hadn't bought anything. Aelita smiled as she finished changing. She tossed Xana a fresh set of clothes. Xana was astonished to find that it was just like the clothes she wore yesterday. Aelita giggled.

"After you left us at lunch, me and Jeremie went to the factory and materialized you enough clothes for the rest of the semester. That's not the only thing we made for you. Here." Aelita said as she handed Xana a box.

Xana looked at the box quizzingly. She opened the box to find a cellphone not unlike Aelita's, except it was red and black and had a red Eye of X.A.N.A. on the back with a camera lens in the center. Xana was surprised. Then she smiled.

"Now you'll be more like a regular Earthling." Aelita said.

"Thank you, Aelita." Xana said.

"You're welcome, Xana." Aelita replied. "Now, c'mon. Get dressed and let's go get some breakfast."

Xana nodded and changed out of her pajamas and into her clothes. She put her new phone in her pants pocket. With that, the two sisters went down to the cafeteria, unaware of what was going to happen that day.

* * *

At that same time, underneath an old military base in the state of Nevada, two missiles were preparing to launch. Their targets were Kadic Academy and the factory. The scientist had hacked into security cameras so that he can keep track of the missiles. The woman beside him watched in fear as the missiles prepared to leave the base.

"Soon, my dear, I will have my revenge on that fool, Franz Hopper. What better way to do so, than to destroy his legacy?" He said.

The woman said nothing, too scared for the fate of the children this man was out to kill.

* * *

Back at Kadic, the Lyoko Warriors were enjoying their breakfast. At least, they were trying to by ignoring Odd's feeding frenzy.

"How on Earth can he eat so much and stay so skinny like that?" Xana asked.

"I heard that. I am not skinny. I am svelte." Odd clarified.

"We have no idea. To be honest, we stopped asking a long time ago." Aelita said.

Xana decided to drop the question and just concentrated on eating her breakfast. Suddenly, Jeremie's laptop went off.

'It can't be.' He thought.

But it was. He opened his laptop to find that there was an activated tower in the Ice Sector.

"See. I knew we couldn't trust her. All right, Xana. What are you planning?" Ulrich asked her.

Xana was just as shocked as they were.

"What are you talking about? I didn't activate the tower." She said to Ulrich.

"She's right, Ulrich." Jeremie said. "This tower was activated by someone else. Who it is, I haven't a clue."

"It doesn't matter right now. Let's deactivate it before something happens." Yumi said.

"Right." Said everyone.

Everyone left for the factory without a second thought.


	6. First Attack Part 2

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi." Jeremie said as he started the virtualization process.

He was at the interface as usual. Aelita, Xana, and William were waiting to be virtualized. Xana decided that she would be more helpful on Lyoko.

"Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi." Jeremie said. "Virtualization."

The three were virtualized in the Ice Sector and it was time for the others to be virtualized. They stepped into the scanners.

"We're in, Jeremie!" called Aelita.

"Okay then. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Xana. Transfer William." Jeremie said as he started the process. "Scanner Aelita. Scanner Xana. Scanner William. Virtualization."

With that, they were on Lyoko. Xana looked a bit like Aelita did, except her outfit was black and red and, of course, had a red Eye of X.A.N.A. on the front and back. Her wristwatch was in the shape of the Eye, too. William looked as he did when possessed by Xana. Even his Zweihander had the Eye of X.A.N.A. on it instead of the original triangle. Ulrich almost attacked him as a reflex, but stopped himself.

"All right, Jeremie." Yumi said. "Where's the tower?"

"The tower is northwest of your position. It's not too far away from you." They heard Jeremie's voice say.

"Okay, Einstein. How about some taxis?" Odd asked.

"Coming right up, Odd." Said Jeremie as he programmed the vehicles. "Unfortunately, there aren't enough vehicles for all of you."

"We'll figure something out, Jeremie." Yumi said.

Yumi took the Overwing. Ulrich took the Overbike. And, Odd took the Overboard. Aelita moved her hand over her watch and her wings generated. She rose into the air. Xana could do that too, but decided on something else. She created a Krab and climbed on top of it, intending to ride it to the tower. William, meanwhile, figured out that he still had his Supersmoke ability and decided to use that. They all went in the direction of the tower. Soon enough, they reached the tower to find something unusual. There were two blue creatures that looked like Krabs but also resembled scorpions. On their backs was a symbol like the Eye of X.A.N.A. except without the two lines on the bottom. They were all surprised to see these new creatures.

"Considering that you didn't activate the tower, I get the feeling these aren't yours, Xana." Ulrich said.

"They're not, Ulrich. They kinda look like my Krabs, but they're not. And that symbol on their backs isn't mine. No doubt someone else created them. The same person who activated the tower." Xana said.

Said tower was glowing purple. Whenever Xana activated a tower, it would glow red. This could only mean that someone else had indeed activated the tower. For what purpose, the Lyoko Warriors had yet to know. Jeremie decided at that moment to check the news. He wasn't disappointed.

"We have breaking news. Our satellites have just detected two missiles that have been traced back to an old military base in the state of Nevada in the United States. We've yet to know where they're headed." The newscaster said.

"There's no doubt that that's the attack. I even know where they're headed." Jeremie said. "Guys! Bad news! Our attacker has sent two missiles after us! No doubt, they're aimed at the school and the factory! In other words, you better deactivate that tower quickly!"

"Gotcha, Einstein!" Odd said. "C'mon! Let's go deal with these 'Skorpions'!"

"And Odd names another monster." Ulrich said. "Doesn't matter though. Supersprint!"

He ran towards one of the Skorpions. The Skorpion saw him and started firing a laser from its stinger. Ulrich dodged it and jumped onto the creature's back. It tried to shake him off, but Ulrich hung on. The other Skorpion started shooting at him.

"Impact!" Ulrich cried as he plunged one of his katanas into the symbol on the Skorpion's back, like he does with Krabs.

The first Skorpion was tougher than Ulrich thought it was and didn't explode. Before he could strike it again, the other Skorpion's laser hit him, knocking him off its comrade's back. Jeremie was surprised.

"Ulrich, you just lost 40 lifepoints! These things are no joke!" He said.

"I've got it, Jeremie!" Ulrich said.

He tried to finish off the first Skorpion, but was devirtualized by the second. Yumi threw one of her Tessen fans at the Skorpion. It hit the symbol and the Skorpion finally exploded.

"One down." Yumi said.

The Skorpion's friend was not too happy about this and shot at Yumi. She barely dodged the shot and was hit before she could toss her other fan.

"Careful, Yumi! These monsters are tough!" Jeremie yelled.

"I know, Jeremie!" Yumi replied.

Xana decided to take her shot at it.

"Attack, my loyal servant!" Xana commanded.

Xana jumped off of the Krab as it charged at the Skorpion. The two were soon locked in a duel as they fired lasers at each other. The Krab managed to do some damage, but the Skorpion proved itself the superior opponent in the end as it defeated the Krab. Aelita activated her wings and took off.

"Energy Field!" Aelita called as she shot one at the Skorpion.

The Krab had done enough damage that the Skorpion fell easily to Aelita's attack. The way now clear, Aelita flew to the tower. She rose to the second platform and entered the code Lyoko.

The missiles stopped in midair above the Mediterranean Sea and fell into it, making a huge splash.

"This just in. Witnesses have reported seeing two missiles fall into the Mediterranean Sea. We have reason to believe that these are the two missiles from earlier. If they had continued on their path, they would no doubt have hit somewhere in Paris, France. We do not know why, but given all of the crises that have been averted in recent months, we have come to believe that someone is watching out for us, whether it be God or some other entity. We'll probably never know. This has been Monique Bonaparte of Channel 6 News." The reporter concluded.

"We did it, guys. No damage has been done and, as such, we don't need to go back in time." Jeremie said. "I bringing you all home."

Everyone was devirtualized and met back at the lab. Xana turned to Yumi and Ulrich.

"So, guys? How about now?" She asked them.

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other. They shrugged their shoulders. They turned to her.

"I'm not willing to trust you with my life yet. But, I do take back what I said about you earlier. I hope you can forgive me." Ulrich said.

"As for me, I'm willing to trust you. You did help us with the Skorpion before. I also heard about what you did for Jeremie yesterday. Those are good enough for me." Yumi said.

Xana smiled.

"Thanks, guys. It makes me happy to know that you're willing to trust me. Do you think that makes us friends now?" Xana asked.

Ulrich grinned.

"Sure, Xana. We're friends now." Ulrich said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

He took his hand off her shoulder as Aelita approached.

"I knew they were going to come around eventually, Xana." Aelita said to her.

Xana nodded.

"You guys go ahead. I'll go look into our attacker. Whoever he/she is, he/she must be powerful, since he/she took control of two missiles and created those Skorpions." Jeremie said. "I have plenty of work to do. Aelita, you can help if you want to."

"Sure thing, Jeremie." Aelita said.

Odd took the lead and everyone except Jeremie and Aelita followed him to the elevator. They left the factory and headed back to Kadic.

* * *

Meanwhile, the scientist was a little angry that his plan was foiled, but was also impressed.

"Jeremie Belpois. I commend you and your friends for stopping my attack and defeating my monsters. But, this is only the beginning for you. I want my revenge on Franz Hopper and I will have it." He said.

The woman was relieved that the children were safe, especially her daughter, Aelita. Or daughters, rather, adding in Xana.


	7. Laura Gauthier

"Class!" Mrs. Hertz called. "We have a new student joining us today! Why don't you come in and introduce yourself, dear?"

It was the next morning. Jeremie and Aelita had gotten back last night. They had found something interesting in Franz Hopper's diary that they thought the team needed to see. They, along with Odd and Ulrich, were in Science at the moment. They all decided to go to the factory after Lunch. The new student walked in. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a dark blue shirt with a gray vest over it and a black skirt.

"Hi everyone. I'm Laura Gauthier. I really like quantum physics and I hope to enjoy my time here at Kadic." She said.

Odd turned to Aelita.

"She's smart and cute. Well, Aelita. Looks like you have some competition in the Mrs. Einstein department." Odd said to her.

"Don't be ridiculous, Odd. There can only be one Mrs. Einstein and that's _moi_." Aelita said.

Laura went to her seat, which happened to be nearby.

"So, you're Jeremie Belpois. It's nice to meet you, Jeremie." She said as she shook Jeremie's hand. "And you're Aelita Stones. It's nice to meet you too." Laura said as she shook Aelita's hand.

Aelita smiled.

"It's very nice to meet you, Laura." She said as she shook Laura's hand.

Laura nodded and sat in her seat. Class soon began. Jeremie was a little bit surprised to see that Laura was just as smart as he was, if not a little bit smarter. Not that he would want to admit it. Science class soon ended and Jeremie and the others headed over to the cafeteria. They got their lunch and sat at their table. Xana, Yumi, and William arrived soon after.

"Well, look who's back. How'd it go, Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

"It went well. We found something in Franz Hopper's diary that might help us solve the mystery of whoever sent those missiles our way." Jeremie said. "Would you like to join us on a trip to the factory?"

"Sure thing, Jeremie." Yumi answered.

"What's this I hear about a factory?" asked a voice.

They all looked up to see Laura standing there.

"Surely, you don't mean the old Renault factory, do you? I don't why anyone would want to go there. But, then again, it's none of my business. Bye, everyone." Laura said as she walked off.

"Who was that?" Xana asked.

"That's Laura, a new student here. Believe it or not, she's just as smart as Einstein here." Odd said.

Jeremie gave a slight glare at Odd as he said that.

"Someone just as smart as Jeremie? Impossible." Xana said.

"Anyway," Aelita said, "let's go to the factory. You won't believe what we found in my father's diary."

The gang finished eating and left for the factory. Laura saw them leave. Still curious as to why they would go to the factory, she decided to follow them.


	8. Alan Meyer & Time Reversion

The gang had arrived at the factory and was now in the lab. They didn't know that Laura had been following them. Fortunately, she lost them in the sewers. Not one to give in, she started her search for them. In the meantime, Jeremie was preparing to show them what he and Aelita had found in Franz Hopper's diary.

"Listen to this, guys." He said.

"_June 6, 1994. Day 67. Project Carthage was a military program used to block enemy communications. Or, that's what the project leaders wanted people to believe. I knew the truth of what Carthage was really used for. It was created to send armies throughout the world's networks. I realized the dangers of this and tried to stop the project. However, a scientist that I had worked on the project with, named Alan Meyer, wouldn't listen to me. He was in full support of the project. Plus, he and I never really got along. That's when I decided to take matters into my own hands. So, I built the Supercomputer, created Lyoko, and last of all, X.A.N.A., to destroy Carthage. I soon developed the scanners using the virtualization technology that was going to be used for Carthage upon its completion. I only hope that X.A.N.A. will be able to destroy Carthage, so that I, Aelita, and hopefully my wife, Anthea, as well, can live in peace."_ Franz Hopper explained in his diary.

He turned off the camera on the Supercomputer, concluding his entry. Jeremie turned around to address the group.

"When I first listened to this entry, I didn't think much of it at the time." Jeremie said. "But now, given the current circumstances, this entry was as invaluable as the one where Franz mentioned the Keys To Lyoko."

"So you think that the 'Alan Meyer' that Franz mentioned is our attacker?" Yumi asked.

"Actually, we're not sure, Yumi." Aelita said. "It would make sense, considering that he and my father seem to have hated each other. I'm afraid that this is all we have to go on."

"Damnit!" cried a voice.

They all turned to see Xana make a dent in the wall with tears in her eyes. She collapsed onto her knees, crying.

"I'm sorry, father. I failed you. I was created to destroy Carthage, but then I betrayed you. I trapped you and your daughter in Lyoko. I set out to wipe out humanity and conquer the world. I made it my goal to kill Jeremie and his friends. I took one of them and made him into my slave. And, worst of all, I destroyed you instead of Carthage, leaving a brokenhearted Aelita behind." She sobbed.

Aelita came over to her and patted her back. Xana noticed Aelita and hugged her tight. Aelita wanted to say something, but decided to let Xana cry. Jeremie then got an alert from the Supercomputer. Laura was on the ground floor. He stopped the elevator before Laura could use it. Xana was soon finished crying. She let go of Aelita.

"Thank you, Aelita." She said.

"Any time." Aelita said.

"If Carthage hasn't been destroyed, then our attacker is no doubt using it for his own ambition. We have no choice but to destroy it ourselves. Is anybody with me?" Jeremie asked.

"I am." Xana said.

Everybody looked at her.

"It's what I was created to do. It's also the only way I can make up for what I've done to Franz Hopper and all of you." She said.

No one else said anything. But, nobody needed to. Everyone knew the answer. They were a team. They fought Xana together. They shut down the Supercomputer together. So, they agreed that they would destroy Carthage together as well.

"All hands in, everybody!" Odd called.

Everybody, including William and Xana, put their hands in.

"The elevator's not going to stay locked forever, so prepare for a trip back in time." Jeremie said as he began setting up a return trip.

Once the trip was set, Jeremie pressed the Enter key.

"Return to the past, now!" He said.

With that, a white bubble came out of the Supercomputer and engulfed the whole world, rewinding back to just a while ago.

* * *

The gang was sitting at Lunch again. Laura walked up to them.

"Hello, Jeremie. These must be your friends." She said.

"That's right. This is Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William, and Xana. You already know Aelita." Jeremie said.

"Well it's very nice to meet you all. Your table looks a little full, so I'll sit somewhere else. See you, Jeremie." Laura said.

Xana watched her walk away. She turned to Jeremie.

"She doesn't remember coming to the factory, right?" She asked him.

"Not at all, Xana. We went back in time, so she, technically, never went to the factory in the first place." Jeremie explained.

Xana remembered something.

"Oh yeah. Jeremie, did I ever tell you how amazed I am that you thought ahead and copied Franz Hopper's diary into the Supercomputer before I had you destroy the CDs?" She asked.

"No, you haven't told me. But, thanks for the complement." Jeremie said.

They all laughed. Xana collected herself.

"Thanks, Jeremie, and everyone else too. Thank you for letting me into the group and allowing me to be your friend. And, thank you for helping me make up for what I've done. With all of us together, we may be able to put an end to Carthage, once and for all." She said.

Everyone nodded without a word. The day went on without any more problems.

* * *

Meanwhile, the scientist, who really was Alan Meyer, applauded.

"Very good, my young friends. You're just as clever as I thought. As for destroying Carthage, sorry, Xana, but that won't be happening. Especially with the attack I have planned for you and your friends." Alan said.

The woman watched on. This next attack won't be easy to counter. She hoped Aelita and her friends would prevail again.


	9. Rainclouds & Submarines

One week later, Alan made his move. A heavy rain cloud appeared over the factory and opened up. The storm cloud expanded to cover all of Boulogne-Billancourt. All pedestrians went inside to get out the storm. The cloud continued to expand. Soon enough, it would loom over Kadic. The Lyoko Warriors were unaware of this, though. They had just woken up and were eating breakfast. Yumi wasn't with them as she was eating with her family.

"Well, guys, I have great news." Jeremie said.

"What's up, Einstein?" Ulrich asked.

"I've finally finished reprogramming the Skid." Jeremie answered.

"No way. The Skid's back?" Odd asked.

"Yep. It took a while, but Aelita and I managed to do it." Jeremie said.

"So, you were able to rebuild the Skidbladnir. You never cease to amaze me, Jeremie." Xana said.

"Says the person who: Created a snowstorm, supercharged a pylon, took control of a military satellite, twice I might add, took over a teddy bear, possessed people and animals, took control of God knows how many supercomputers around the globe. Need I say more?" Jeremie asked.

Xana just put her hands up in defeat.

"Hey, being a multi-agent program had its benefits. But, you're a normal human being and you've: created a program to materialize someone like Aelita or myself, created two multi-agent systems, one of which was a hazard to us all, decrypted Franz Hopper's diary, albeit with help from Hopper himself, created an anti-virus for Aelita, which did more harm than good, and outsmarted me on more than one occasion. You even faced your fear of the scanners to rescue your friends from my ghost channel. Need _I_ say more?" She asked.

Jeremie blushed. Then, his laptop went off. There was an activated tower. However, there was a problem.

"Our mysterious attacker strikes again. However, it's not on Lyoko. It's a good thing we have the Skid up and running again, so it won't be too much of a problem. All we have to do is find the Replika that the tower is inside of. I'll get the Superscan working on that. The attack doesn't seem to have had any effects, as of yet, so we'll just go to class in the mean time. We'll leave for the factory after class." Jeremie said.

They went to their respective classes, none of them realizing that this was a big mistake. Soon, the rain cloud had expanded to hover over the school.

"My, how the weather's changed." Ms. Hertz remarked as she saw the downpour outside. "And it looks like it might stay this way for a while."

Jeremie also saw the downpour and was surprised by the sudden change in the weather.

"Jeremie." Aelita whispered. "You don't think this could be the attack, do you?"

"You just read my mind, Aelita. There's no way this is natural." Jeremie said.

Ms. Hertz decided to proceed with class. Aelita called Yumi and told her what was happening. When the bell rang, Jeremie and the others raced through the rain to the sewer entrance. Yumi, William, and Xana met them along the way. They reached the sewer and Odd climbed down first. When he reached the bottom, he found himself ankle-deep in water.

"Uh, Houston, we have a problem!" He said.

"It seems like our attacker was planning to flood the sewers so that we can't get to the factory. Better get back up here, Odd. We can't run the risk of being swept away." Jeremie said.

"Gotcha, Einstein!" Odd said as he climbed back up.

"How are we going to get to the factory?" Ulrich asked.

"Simple. We just go towards the Seine and follow it to the factory. Then we cross the bridge over to the other side. We can reach the factory entrance from there." Jeremie explained.

They once again raced through the rain towards the Seine. When they got there, they saw that the Seine had risen and had a nasty current running through it. They looked around and quickly found the factory in no time, along with the center of the storm system. As they approached the factory, the gang saw people being evacuated, for the Seine would soon overflow if nothing was done. They reached the bridge and managed to cross it. They soon reached the bridge to the factory entrance and slid down the ropes, which were, thankfully, still dry. They got into the elevator and went down to the lab. Jeremie got off and the rest went down to the scanners.

"Everyone ready?" Jeremie called.

"Yes, Jeremie. We're ready!" Xana replied.

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi went first. They stepped into the scanners.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization." Jeremie said.

The three of them landed in the Arena in Sector 5. Aelita, Xana, and William followed soon after. A passage to the Core Zone opened and they went through the corridor. When they reached the Core Zone, they found a room full of Creepers. The Creepers saw our heroes and prepared to fire their lasers. Xana stepped forward and commanded them to stop. Rather surprisingly, they obeyed and went away. Everyone was surprised, even Xana. She turned to the others.

"I, honestly, wasn't expecting them to listen to me. You think they recognized me?" Xana asked.

"Something tells me they did. It must be in their code or something." Answered the voice of Jeremie. "In any case, get to the elevator. The Skid awaits."

They reached the elevator, got on it, and rode it up to where the Skidbladnir was docked.

"Ah, the good old Skid. Never thought I'd see it again." Odd commented.

"Well, there it is, Odd. I've even modified it to accommodate Xana. Hope you like having a copilot, Aelita." Jeremie said.

Xana gasped at this revelation.

"Oh, thank you, Jeremie!" She exclaimed.

"No problem. Now, get ready to be energized." Jeremie said.

He entered the command and Aelita and the others were teleported inside the Skid. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and William went into smaller ships attached to the Skid called Navskids. Aelita and Xana went into the cockpit. They sat side by side, each with their own set of controls.

"You guys ready?" Jeremie asked.

"We're ready, Jeremie." Aelita answered.

"Okay then. Releasing supports." Jeremie said as he released the magnetic supports that kept the Skid in place.

"We have ignition, Jeremie." Aelita said as she fired up the thrusters.

The Skid came out of its hangar and out of the Celestial Dome.

"Tunnel open in two seconds." Jeremie said as he cleared one of the data streams around Sector 5 so that the Skid could go through.

The Skid went through the tunnel and into the outermost part of Sector 5. It then went down to the Digital Sea below and stopped just above the surface.

"Preparing to dive into the Digital Sea." Aelita said.

Right after she said it, the Skid dove right into the Digital Sea. Soon enough, it reached the floodgate and was out of Lyoko entirely. Jeremie had found the Replika earlier, so he directed the Skid to a hub and it went in.


	10. Cortex

The Skid blasted out of the hub nearest the Replika and proceeded there.

"We've found the Replika, Jeremie. Approaching the floodgate." Aelita reported.

They reached the gate and saw the same symbol that was on the Skorpions. Aelita activated the key. Jeremie proceeded to crack the code needed to enter the Replika. Soon the code was cracked and the gate opened, allowing the Skid to enter. It rose out of the Digital Sea and up into the Replika. What the gang saw was unbelievable.

"So, Aelita. What sector is it a replica of?" Jeremie asked.

"That's the thing, Jeremie." Xana answered instead. "It's not a replica of any sector at all. It's… something else entirely."

"Can you give me a visual?" Jeremie asked.

"Sure thing, Einstein." Xana said.

Soon Jeremie saw the same thing the rest of them were seeing and it blew his mind. It was like Lyoko, but it looked like a giant ring with a large sphere in the center. Jeremie soon shook himself out of his daze.

"Anyway, the tower's somewhere on the eastern side of the disk. Unfortunately, you're going to have to leave the Skid somewhere." He said.

"Roger, Jeremie." Aelita said.

She parked the Skid at the edge of the disk. Jeremie de-energized them, teleporting them onto the surface.

"Hang tight, everyone. I'm sending you your taxis." Jeremie said as he brought up the vehicles.

As usual, Odd took the Overboard, Ulrich took the Overbike, and Yumi took the Overwing. Aelita joined Yumi on the Overwing, William used his Supersmoke, and Xana created a Manta and jumped onto its back. They were soon on their way over to the tower.

"Any monsters, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"Yep. Two Skorpions and… a Megatank?" Jeremie said, surprised to see a Megatank.

"Did you just say that there's a Megatank over there?!" Xana exclaimed.

"I don't believe it either, Xana, but yes, I did. That's weird." Jeremie commented.

"I can't believe it! Our bad guy is stealing my monsters now!" Xana cried in anger.

They soon reached the tower and hid behind a nearby wall. They saw that what Jeremie said was true. There were two Skorpions and an odd-looking Megatank guarding the tower. Instead of the usual black, it was blue like the Skorpions.

"I stand corrected. He's not _stealing_ my monsters; he's making knockoffs of them. Well, I'll just have to show him who has better monsters. Attack, Manta!" Xana commanded.

The Manta went to attack the Skorpions. It got a few hits on them and got hit a few times by their lasers, all before it was finished off by the Megatank knockoff.

"Careful, guys. That thing's more powerful than a Megatank. Not to mention, it also has more lifepoints." Jeremie warned them.

"I'll go." Ulrich said. "I have some unfinished business with those Skorpions."

He remembered how he was devirtualized the last time he went up against Skorpions.

"May I join you, Ulrich? It's about time I took a crack at these monsters." William asked.

Ulrich turned to him.

"Sure thing, William. You take the one on the left, while I take the one on the right." Ulrich said. "Supersprint!"

"Supersmoke!" William shouted.

With that, the two of them went over to the Skorpions.

"Meanwhile, the rest of us can try to take out that Megatank." Yumi directed.

Odd, Aelita, and Xana nodded.

"Let's go!" Yumi shouted.

They ran out in view of the Megatank. It turned towards them and opened up, charging its laser. While it had red insides like a normal Megatank, it had the symbol that was on the Skorpions and the floodgate. It fired its laser, which everyone dodged.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd shouted as he shot an arrow at the symbol.

The Megatank closed its shell and the arrow bounced off. It opened up and began charging another laser blast.

"Energy Field!" Aelita cried.

It hit the Megatank but it wasn't destroyed. It fired its laser again. Aelita dodged it again. Meanwhile, William had Supersmoked underneath the Skorpion and slashed its underside with his Zweihander. It exploded; meaning William had successfully defeated it. Ulrich had dodged the laser blasts of his Skorpion and stabbed his katanas into the symbol on its back. He jumped off as it exploded. They were watching the others fight the Megatank.

"Stand back, guys! I'm ending this! Come, Megatank!" Xana yelled.

A Megatank, a normal one, appeared behind her. It was Megatank vs. Megatank. Xana joined the others back at their hiding place.

"I just hope mine wins." Xana said.

The two Megatanks opened up and charged their lasers. They both fired and their lasers clashed. They both struggled, each one trying to outdo the other. Xana's Megatank was weaker and was starting to falter.

"Come on! You can do it!" Xana cried.

Her Megatank heard its master and tried harder. Aelita's Energy Field had weakened the other Megatank and _it_ started to falter. This time, Xana's monster won the battle, as her Megatank eventually destroyed the knockoff. It turned back to its master as she ran over to hug it.

"I can't believe it! You did it! I'm so proud of you!" Xana exclaimed.

She patted it on its front. If the Megatank could blush, it would be doing so right now. Aelita ran into the tower and deactivated it.

"Jeremie, do we need to set a Return to the Past?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. Let me consult the news." Jeremie said.

He put the news on and, to his relief; no one was lost that day.

"This just in. The storm that flooded the Seine seems like it's dissipating. It will still be a while until the floodwaters recede and some of the roads and businesses are open again. We can once again thank who or whatever it is that's protecting us. We hope that it continues to protect us in the future. Once again, this has been Monique Bonaparte of Channel 6 News." Monique said.

"No one was hurt or killed this time, but there was a lot of damage." Jeremie said.

"So, we're going back then?" Xana asked.

"You know it." Jeremie said as he prepared the return trip. "Return to the past, now!"

The white bubble came out and engulfed the whole world, rewinding back to that morning.

* * *

The gang met back at the lab that afternoon. They were all thinking about the mysterious Replika they had found.

"There's no doubt that our attacker created it. Which means that Carthage is there as well." Jeremie concluded.

"It was so strange. It was unlike any Replika we've seen before. Come to think of it, the outside looked strange too. It was like a cortex or something." Aelita noted.

"That's what we'll call it!" Odd said. "The Cortex!"

No one argued about the name and just nodded.

"You know, I still can't believe that Alan Meyer is copying off of my monsters! Who does he think he is?" Xana said.

"How are you sure it's Alan, Xana?" Aelita asked her sister.

"Well, it has to be Alan. Who else could it be? It certainly couldn't be your mother or father." Xana said.

Aelita's face sank at the mention of her parents. Xana saw this and mentally kicked herself. She sat next to Aelita and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Aelita. I forgot how much you miss your parents. In fact, you probably still hate me for, well, what I did to Franz." Xana said.

Aelita just looked up at Xana and smiled.

"I'm just glad I still have a family. You're all my family." Aelita said.

Everyone smiled at this.

"In any case, we better watch out for those 'Gigatanks' in the future, along with any more Xana monster knockoffs." Odd said.

"'Gigatanks'? What is it with you and naming things, Odd?" Xana asked.

"What can I say? I like giving my enemies a name." Odd said.

"In any case, we'll have to go back to the Cortex and see what we can find there. That is, if Alan lets us." Jeremie said.

"Somehow, I doubt he's going to make it easy for us." Ulrich said.

"We'll just have to be careful, won't we?" Yumi asked.

"No arguments here." William said.

"Ditto!" Odd said.

Xana and Aelita just nodded. Jeremie did too and he led them out.

* * *

Meanwhile, the woman was happy that Aelita and her friends have triumphed once again.

"Well, Alan. Looks like another win for Team Lyoko." She said.

"My dear Anthea. They may have won this time. But, this isn't the end. Especially since an old friend of theirs is going to pay them a visit very soon." Alan replied.

Anthea gasped.

"You don't mean…" She asked.

Alan said nothing and laughed as a rather familiar symbol appeared on the screen behind him.


	11. XANA Returns

Somewhere in the Ice Sector, a tower turns from blue to red, meaning that it's been activated by a vengeful computer virus.

* * *

Xana had woken up and left the dorm room to take a shower. She went into the showers and turned the water on. Soon, she was finished and was preparing to get out when an outlet sparked. A black ghost came out of the outlet and approached Xana. Xana sensed it and turned around. She gasped.

"It can't be." She said.

The ghost lunged for her and went into her ear. Xana's body became like static and collapsed on the floor. Xana's body soon went back to normal and she got up, eyes shut. When she opened her eyes, the Eye of X.A.N.A. flashed in her pupils and she had an evil smirk on her face. The evil computer virus known as X.A.N.A. had returned. Xana's eyes became normal and she dried off. She put her clothes on and went down to breakfast. She met Aelita and the others at their table. Jeremie didn't know about the activated tower because X.A.N.A. had bugged up the Superscan before possessing Xana. This was done using another tower in the Desert Sector. X.A.N.A. could not have planned it better.

"Aelita." Xana called.

"Yes, Xana?" Aelita asked.

"Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?" Xana asked.

"All right, Xana. See you later, Jeremie." Aelita said.

Xana smirked, knowing Aelita wouldn't be seeing Jeremie later.

* * *

She and Aelita walked outside and into the forest. They stopped when they got to the sewer entrance.

"So, Xana. What did you want to talk about?" Aelita asked.

Xana laughed. Aelita was surprised.

"Xana? What's wrong with you?" She asked.

"Aelita, there's someone I think you should meet." Xana said.

She grabbed Aelita's arm and electrocuted her. Aelita passed out from the electric shock and was now limp in Xana's arms. Xana took out the cover and started to climb down before sliding the cover back in. Unbeknownst to her, Laura had been nearby and had witnessed the whole exchange.

"Oh no. I have to tell Jeremie." She said to herself.

With that, she ran back to the campus.

* * *

Jeremie and the others had finished breakfast and were on their way to class.

"Wonder what Xana wanted to talk about with Aelita." Ulrich said.

"Whatever it is, it must be important, because they're still not back yet." Jeremie noted.

"Jeremie!" called a voice from behind them.

They turned to see Laura running towards them.

"Laura? Is there something wrong?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes, there is, Jeremie! Xana just kidnapped Aelita!" Laura told him.

"What?!" Ulrich asked in shock.

"Are you sure, Laura?" Jeremie asked her.

"Yes, I'm sure! I saw Xana electrocute her and then take her into the sewers! I ran here to tell you!" Laura explained.

"All right, then. Ulrich, call Yumi. We're going to the factory." Jeremie told him.

He turned to Laura.

"As for you, Laura, stay here. I don't want you getting involved in this." Jeremie told her.

"Getting involved in what?" Laura asked.

"It's none of your business, Laura. Just go and tell Ms. Hertz that we're going to be absent. Let's go, guys." Jeremie said.

They ran to the sewer entrance, leaving Laura standing there confused.

"Wonder where they're going." Said Sissi as she came over.

"Jeremie said that it's none of my business and I don't think it's yours either, Sissi." Laura said to her.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to follow them. It's about time I found out their secret." Sissi said.

With that, she ran off after Jeremie and the others. Laura stood there debating whether or not to follow her. Her curiosity got the better of her and she ran off after Sissi.

* * *

Xana was already at the factory thanks to her superspeed. She jumped down from the entrance to the elevator and called it up. Once the elevator arrived, she took it down to the Lab and went to work setting up a delayed virtualization. With her fingers going faster than humanly possible, she was finished in no time. She picked up Aelita and climbed the ladder down to the Scanner Room. She placed Aelita in one scanner and walked into another. The timer ran out and the scanner doors closed. The two of them were scanned and virtualized into Sector 5. Xana landed after Aelita hit the ground. She grabbed Aelita and went through the Core Zone. This time, the Creepers tried to stop her, not caring that she was their master. Xana destroyed them all in one attack. She then continued to the Celestial Dome. There, was a Rorkal X.A.N.A. had created itself. Xana climbed in with Aelita in tow. A tunnel opened for her, courtesy of Alan Meyer, and she went through it. She went outside Sector 5 and into the Digital Sea.

* * *

Jeremie and the others arrived at the Lab just as Xana was leaving Sector 5.

"Something tells me we're too late." Ulrich observed.

"Hang on. I'll check the Superscan." Jeremie said.

After checking it, he found that the program was full of bugs.

"The Superscan's bugged up. That's why we couldn't find any activated towers. You guys go to Lyoko while I fix the Superscan and look for Xana while I'm at it." Jeremie directed.

"Ready, Jeremie." Ulrich said as he, Odd, and William got into the scanners.

"All right, I'll send you to Sector 5. Xana probably went there with Aelita." Jeremie said. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer William. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner William. Virtualization."

They were virtualized in the Arena and went out into the Core Zone.

"How on Earth are we going to find those two?" Odd asked.

A Creeper appeared and nodded to the passage behind it. Odd and the others were confused.

"What's up with that Creeper?" Odd asked.

"It's trying to lead you to the Skid! Xana and Aelita have just left Lyoko!" Jeremie said.

"Let's go then!" Ulrich said.

They ran to the elevator and took it to the Skid's hangar. A problem arose when they arrived though.

"Who's going to pilot the Skid?" Ulrich asked.

"Yumi is. She just got here and I'm sending her over now." Jeremie answered.

* * *

While the gang was waiting for Yumi, Sissi and Laura had arrived at the factory. Jeremie didn't notice, as he was too busy debugging the Superscan. They climbed down the ropes and walked to the elevator.

"Something tells me this elevator will take us right to them." Sissi told Laura.

"I still think that this is a bad idea." Laura said.

"Oh, where's your sense of adventure?" Sissi asked as she called up the elevator.

Laura wanted to argue more, but decided that arguing with Sissi would be pointless and went into the elevator with her. Sissi pressed a button, but nothing happened.

"What gives?" Sissi asked.

"Let me see that." Laura said.

Laura investigated the panel and found a keypad inside of it. Being just as smart as Jeremie, she was able to figure out the code. The elevator door closed and it went down to the Lab.

* * *

Jeremie had finished debugging the Superscan when he heard the elevator coming down.

"That's weird." He said.

He checked the Superscan to find that Alan hadn't activated any towers. However, he did find the towers activated by X.A.N.A., much to his shock. That wasn't all. The elevator doors opened to the two people he least expected to see.

"Sissi? And Laura? What are you two doing here?" He asked.

"Finding out what you guys have been hiding!" Sissi said.

"I'm sorry, Jeremie. I know you said that it's none of my business. I didn't even want to come here at first. But, after Sissi followed you, my curiosity got the better of me. I'll understand if you don't forgive me, Jeremie." Laura said.

"That's all right, Laura. As for you, Sissi, I'm not telling you anything." Jeremie said to the both of them.

"Guys, we have a few problems." He said to the crew still on Lyoko.

"What's up, Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

"First of all, Sissi and Laura followed us to the factory and are here in the Lab with me. And second, there are two activated towers. One of them must have been used to bug the Superscan. But, that's not what worries me." Jeremie explained.

"Sissi and Laura in the factory? I can't believe this!" Ulrich yelled.

"Hold on, Ulrich." Yumi said. "You said that there was something that was bothering you, Jeremie. What is it?"

"The towers weren't activated by Alan. But, you wouldn't believe me if I told you who _did_." Jeremie said.

"Who was it?" Yumi asked.

"A certain evil A.I. who is, no doubt, using the other tower to possess Xana." Jeremie explained.

"What a second! You don't mean…" Yumi asked.

"Yes, Yumi. X.A.N.A." Jeremie said.


	12. Meetings & New Members

"Aha! I knew there was something weird about that girl!" Sissi exclaimed.

"Hold on, Sissi. I don't think that the X.A.N.A. Jeremie's referring to is Aelita's sister." Laura said. "Am I right, Jeremie?"

"Well, it is and it isn't." Jeremie said.

"Well, it seems like I was right not to trust her after all." Ulrich commented.

"Hang on, Ulrich. Jeremie, do you know what's going on?" Yumi asked.

"Possibly. If you'll remember, X.A.N.A. was based on a multi-agent system. As such, the collective intelligence of the agents made it so X.A.N.A. was always evolving. As a result, X.A.N.A. eventually gained the sense of right and wrong. The agents carrying that sense escaped eradication by my Anti-X.A.N.A. program and materialized themselves as Xana Schaeffer, a human girl. Meanwhile, most of the other agents were destroyed. But, what if someone collected some of the agents that still were evil and recreated the original X.A.N.A. from those agents. I have no doubt in my mind that it was Alan Meyer who recreated X.A.N.A. and sent him after us." Jeremie explained.

"What makes you think that it's Alan?" Yumi asked.

"The fact that Xana appears to be taking Aelita to the Cortex, which I'm starting to think was made by Alan's supercomputer. Xana's about to leave the hub, so get a move on!" Jeremie said.

"Finally! Back to the action!" Odd yelled.

They went to the platform and Jeremie energized them. Yumi was in the cockpit this time, as Aelita was still in Xana's clutches. Odd, Ulrich, and William went into the Nav Skids.

"Releasing supports!" Jeremie said.

The magnetic supports were released.

"Yumi! I'll help you pilot the Skid, so don't worry!" Jeremie told her.

"Thanks, Jeremie!" She said.

With Jeremie's help, Yumi got the Skid out of the hangar and through the tunnel that Xana had used, which was still open. The gang got out of Sector 5 and into the Digital Sea. They got out of Lyoko and went into the hub.

* * *

Xana had reached the Cortex and was now disembarking the Rorkal. It was at this point that Aelita had woken up and was fighting Xana. Xana would have none of it and knocked her out again. Xana then picked her up and started running towards the center of the disk.

* * *

The Skid came out of the hub and went straight for the Cortex. It went inside the gate and came out of the Digital Sea. Yumi spotted Xana's Rorkal. She put the Skid next to it.

"De-energize!" Jeremie said.

With that, Yumi and the others were teleported out of the Skid and onto the surface of the disk.

"Xana's not too far ahead! I'm sending you your vehicles!" Jeremie told them.

Odd took the Overboard, Ulrich took the Overbike, Yumi took the Overwing, and William Supersmoked. They were soon in pursuit of Xana.

* * *

Xana was now at the entrance to the sphere in the disk's center. She put her hand onto the door and opened it. She was walking to a platform at the end when the Lyoko Warriors finally caught up with her. William reformed in front of her and blocked her way. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi came up behind her. Xana smirked.

"I thought you would never catch up. I applaud you." Xana said.

"All right, X.A.N.A. What do you want with Aelita? You've already taken her memory and destroyed Franz Hopper. What else do you want, huh?" Jeremie asked.

Xana looked up, still smirking.

"Nothing, really. My new ally wanted to meet her, that's all. If you all would like to meet him yourselves, then follow me." Xana said.

She shoved William out of her way and walked to the platform. Once there, she was teleported somewhere else. The rest followed after her and they, too, were teleported. They appeared in an area similar to the Core of Lyoko. The platform they were on now had an interface facing the wall. There was a giant screen in front of it. Xana was at the interface.

"I see you followed me. It's time you met my ally face to face. Alan!" Xana called.

"Ah, X.A.N.A. I've been expecting you. So these are the children that have interfered with my plans. You certainly are a persistent bunch. You're either very brave or very stupid. Have you any idea of what you're up against?" Alan asked.

"An evil scientist using a military program that could be potentially used to take over the world!" Jeremie exclaimed.

"Right you are, Jeremie Belpois! I see you've been doing your homework, as always! It's no wonder they call you Einstein!" Alan remarked.

Aelita moaned, which got everyone's attention. She sat up, rubbing her head. If one could feel pain on Lyoko, Aelita's head would certainly hurt from the blow Xana inflicted on her.

"Ah, the Sleeping Beauty awakens at last!" Alan said.

Aelita turned toward him and gasped.

"Are you?" She began.

"Yes, my dear! I am Alan Meyer, one of the scientists who worked on Project Carthage with your father, Waldo Schaeffer, or Franz Hopper, as you know him! And, speaking of your father, there's someone here who's dying to see you again! Anthea! Come and look who's here!" Alan called.

The gang heard footsteps and then they saw a beautiful pink-haired woman step out of the shadows. She gasped at the sight of Aelita, even though Alan had been surveying them for quite a while.

"Mama?" Aelita gasped.

"Aelita!" Anthea gasped.

"X.A.N.A.! Release the girl! She has served her purpose!" Alan ordered.

"As you wish, Alan." Xana said.

Jeremie saw X.A.N.A. deactivate both of the towers it had activated. The ghost came out of Xana's body and dissipated, while Xana collapsed. Xana woke up soon after.

"Where am I?" She asked as she sat up.

She looked around until she saw Alan.

"You!" She shouted angrily at him. "You brought it back, didn't you?"

Alan chuckled.

"Indeed, I did, Xana! How else would I be able to counter Jeremie and the rest of you, besides bringing back your worst enemy? Our combined strength should be enough to defeat you kids!" Alan said.

"And you have the nerve to make copies of _my_ monsters!" Xana shouted.

"X.A.N.A. helped me make those copies, I hope you know!" Alan said.

"Speaking of X.A.N.A., how on Earth is it back again?" Xana asked.

"Simple! The good agents that make you up weren't the only ones left after Jeremie's program ran its course! I found some evil agents on the network! I recreated the evil X.A.N.A. from these agents! Your friend, Jeremie, has no doubt figured this out already!" Alan explained.

"Nevertheless, we will beat you, Alan! I am going to make up for what I did as X.A.N.A.! Even if it's the last thing I do!" Xana exclaimed.

"We will see, my young friend! Go say 'Hello' to Anthea before you leave! She'll probably want to meet her other daughter! Meanwhile, I've work to do!" Alan said before he left.

Xana, still fuming, turned to see Anthea looking over at her. Xana lost her anger at the sight of the beautiful woman before her.

"Hello! It's nice to finally meet you, Xana! You came out very beautiful, dear!" Anthea said.

Xana blushed.

"Thank you, Anthea!" Xana said.

Anthea laughed.

"Come now, Xana! Aelita is your sister now! And Waldo is your father! Shouldn't you be calling me 'mother'?" Anthea asked.

Xana blushed again.

"You're right, mother!" She said.

"Do take care of Aelita!" Anthea said. "That goes for the rest of you! Please take care of my sweet angel!"

"You can count on us, ma'am!" Odd said.

"We'll always be there for Aelita! You have our word!" Yumi said.

Ulrich and William couldn't think of anything to say, so they just nodded.

"I would never let anyone hurt Aelita!" Jeremie said.

"It makes glad to hear that Aelita has such good friends! I hope to see you again soon!" Anthea said.

The screen shut off and the gang turned to each other.

"Your mom's the best, Princess!" Odd said to Aelita.

"Yes, she is, Odd. I hope that we can live together again, just like all those years ago." Aelita said.

Xana put a hand on her shoulder.

"I promise, Aelita. We'll get mother out of there. I swear it." She said.

"Thanks, Xana." Aelita said.

They all left without another word.

* * *

Back at the Lab, the gang was debating on what to do about Sissi and Laura, who had been there the entire time.

"I don't know about Laura, but Sissi is definitely out." Ulrich said.

"Sissi's shown herself to be a nice person at times and Laura seems very nice too. I say we give them a chance." Aelita suggested.

"I'm going to have to agree with Aelita on this one." Xana said.

"You're right, Aelita. But, it's a bit risky to include the two of them, Sissi most of all." Jeremie said.

"Besides," Yumi began, "six of us on Lyoko is enough to deal with any monsters Alan or X.A.N.A. send us. We don't need any more people in our group."

"Sissi might be trouble, but Laura seems to be okay." Odd said.

William just shrugged.

"Well then. How about a vote?" Jeremie asked.

"Don't we get a say in this?" Sissi asked in disbelief.

"It's their decision to make, Sissi." Laura said to her.

"I know. It's just unfair." Sissi complained.

"Anyway, all in favor of Sissi." Jeremie started.

Aelita, Xana, and William raised their hands.

"All against." Jeremie said.

He, Ulrich, Yumi and Odd raised their hands.

"Sorry, Aelita, but the 'Nays' have it." Jeremie said. "Now, all in favor of Laura."

Aelita, Xana, William, and Odd raised their hands.

"All against."

He, Ulrich, and Yumi raised their hands.

"Well, the 'Ayes' have it, this time." Jeremie said. "But, before we do anything, let's let Sissi and Laura have their say. What do you say, girls? Want to join us?" He asked.

"Are you kidding? Of course we do! At least, I do!" Sissi said.

"I wouldn't mind. Of course, if it really is too risky, then feel free to wipe our memories, Jeremie." Laura said.

"It's decided, then! Welcome to the Lyoko Warriors, you two!" Jeremie declared.

"What?" Ulrich asked. "You can't be serious, Jeremie!"

"I'm sorry, Ulrich! Sissi and Laura's input made it final! They're in the group, whether you like it or not!" Jeremie said. "Get down to the scanners, you two! Scanning you is the only way you won't be affected by the Return to the Past!"

"Yes, Jeremie!" Sissi said. "Come on, Laura!"

"Thank you, Jeremie!" Laura said.

"Oh no, you don't." Ulrich said as he blocked their way.

Yumi and Odd grabbed him and dragged him away.

"Let go of me!" Ulrich yelled as he struggled in their hold.

"Ulrich, the decision's already been made! There's nothing we can do about it!" Yumi said to him. "Go on, you two!" Yumi said to Sissi and Laura.

Thanking Yumi, Sissi and Laura went down the ladder to the Scanner Room. They each got into a scanner.

"We're ready, Jeremie!" Sissi called.

"All right. I hope I don't regret this in a minute. Scanner Sissi. Scanner Laura." Jeremie said.

Both were scanned. The scanner doors opened and the two of them came back up.

"Hang on, girls." Jeremie said as he set up the return trip. "Return to the past, now!"

The white bubble engulfed the factory and the academy, rewinding back to that morning.


	13. The Men In Black

In his laboratory in Switzerland, Alan was planning something big. However, he didn't have the power to do it yet. Fortunately, he had a plan. One that would ensure that he got the power he needed. You see, just like the Supercomputer, and X.A.N.A. when he still resided in the Supercomputer, Alan's computer grew more powerful each time a Return to the Past was used. All he needed to do was get Jeremie to use it one more time. He had the perfect plan to do so.

"X.A.N.A.! You know what to do!" Alan said.

"Why don't you just take control of the program like X.A.N.A. did?" Anthea asked.

"Because X.A.N.A.'s done that before. Plus, what we're doing is more interesting." Alan replied.

Anthea knew what the plan was and just prayed for the Lyoko Warriors.

* * *

At Kadic, a socket sparked in the Principal's Office and a X.A.N.A. ghost came out of it. It possessed Mr. Delmas and proceeded to make a phone call.

"Who is this?" a voice at the other end asked.

"I am Jean-Pierre Delmas, Principal of Kadic Academy. Is this the Men In Black?" Mr. Delmas answered.

"What business do you have with us?" the voice asked.

"Are you still looking for Franz Hopper and his daughter?" Mr. Delmas asked.

"How do you know about that?" the voice asked.

"That is none of your concern. Are you still looking for them or not?" Delmas asked again.

"If you must know, then no. We gave up years ago." The voice answered.

"Well, you may be interested to know that I know Aelita's whereabouts." Delmas told him.

"You do? Where is she?" the voice asked.

"She's currently attending my school as Aelita Stones. I will call her to my office, where you can come and get her." Delmas said.

"Thank you, Mr. Delmas. We'll be there." The voice said as he hung up.

"Now that that's done, all I have to do is wait." Mr. Delmas said.

But then, Sissi walked in. Before she could say anything, Mr. Delmas interrupted her.

"Whatever it is, Elisabeth, I haven't the time for it. I'm expecting someone this afternoon. But, then again, there's something you can do for me." Mr. Delmas said to her.

This made Sissi angry. For one thing, he called her 'Elisabeth'. But then, he didn't give her a chance to speak and started ordering her around. She just left without a word, fuming. Mr. Delmas, however, would not let her leave. He got up and grabbed by her arm.

"You will listen to your father, young lady!" He yelled.

The secretary went over to see what was going on.

"What is going on here?" She asked.

Mr. Delmas shot electricity out of his hand and sent her flying to the opposite wall. Sissi was surprised. Sissi looked at her father. She then saw the Eye of X.A.N.A. in his eyes and gasped. She immediately tried to wrestle out of his grasp. She needed to warn Jeremie. Her father's grip was strong, but she managed to get her arm free and ran out the door. Delmas didn't want to arouse any suspicion, so he let her go.

* * *

Sissi ran to the cafeteria to find Jeremie and the others. She found them and sat next to Ulrich in exhaustion.

"What's up, Sissi? You look like you ran a marathon." Ulrich asked.

They waited for Sissi to catch her breath. Then she spoke.

"You're not going to believe this, but X.A.N.A.'s possessed my father." She said.

"So that's what he's doing." Xana said.

While Sissi was in her father's office, the Superscan had picked up a tower being activated by X.A.N.A.

"What he's planning is still a mystery though." Xana said.

"We've decided to leave for the factory after Lunch." Jeremie told Sissi.

Sissi nodded as Jim walked toward them.

"Stones, the Principal wants to see you!" He said.

"You're the one he wants, Aelita." Xana whispered. "Go."

"All right, Xana." Aelita said.

Aelita got up.

"Actually, he wants both of you. Don't ask me why, because I don't know." Jim said.

Xana was confused, as was Aelita. She got up and Jim took them both to see Mr. Delmas.

"Why does X.A.N.A. want to see them both?" Yumi asked.

"I don't know." Jeremie answered. "But, something tells me it's not good."

* * *

It wasn't, of course. But, everyone, Aelita and Xana especially, didn't know how bad it was. They walked into the office. The secretary was still leaning on the wall unconscious. They came in and sat down.

"Good afternoon, ladies. I hope your day has been going well." Mr. Delmas said to them.

"Cut the pleasantries, X.A.N.A. We know it's you." Xana replied.

"Ah, young Elisabeth has told you, I see. In any case, the reason I brought you here today is because I'm expecting some special guests this afternoon that are anxious to meet you two, especially you, Aelita." Mr. Delmas said to them.

"What special guests?" Xana asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out soon." Mr. Delmas answered.

They heard someone knocking on the door.

"Speak of the devil, here they are now." Mr. Delmas said. "You may come in!"

The door opened to review two grown men in black suits. Aelita gasped, got up, and started to back up against the wall. Xana gasped too.

"You bastard!" Xana said as she ran up to Mr. Delmas, only to get shocked and shot back into the wall.

"If it isn't Aelita Schaeffer. I must say you don't seem to have aged a day. No doubt a result of Hopper's insane experiments. Speaking of him, where is he?" asked one of them.

"If you want to know, my father's dead!" Aelita answered.

"I find that hard to believe. Now, you are coming with us, Aelita." Said the one as grabbed Aelita's arm and started dragging her away.

"What do we do with this one sir?" the other asked Mr. Delmas.

"Take her with you." Mr. Delmas said simply.

The other agent grabbed Xana's arm and started dragging her away. Xana growled.

"This isn't over, X.A.N.A.! Jeremie and the others will stop you!" Xana yelled.

"Indeed they will, Xana! That's precisely what I'm counting on!" Mr. Delmas said to her.

This puzzled Xana. She was already out of the office before she could ask though. The men pulled them across campus. No student dared cross the men's path. Two students in particular found this an interesting development.

"Where do you think those men are taking Aelita and Xana?" Tamiya asked her friend Milly.

"Nowhere good, I think." Milly said. "In any case, we've got ourselves a real big scoop. We should tell Jeremie."

"I'm with you on that." Tamiya said.

With that, they ran to the cafeteria.

* * *

Jeremie and the others were about to run to the sewer entrance when they came up.

"Jeremie!" Milly called.

Jeremie turned around, as did the others.

"What's wrong, Milly?" he asked.

"These men in black suits took Aelita and Xana out of Mr. Delmas' office." Tamiya answered.

"What?! You're kidding!" Jeremie asked in shock.

"No, we're not, Jeremie!" Milly said. "We saw them with our own eyes!"

"That's X.A.N.A.'s plan! Guys, let's hurry! As for you two stay here! It's for your own good!" Jeremie said.

Jeremie and the rest ran off without another word. Milly and Tamiya were confused.

"Where are they going? And who's X.A.N.A.?" Milly asked.

"I don't know, Milly. What do you say we find out?" Tamiya asked.

"Yes. This is another great scoop. One that we can't pass up." Milly said.

With that, the two young journalists trailed after the gang.

* * *

The gang reached the factory, unaware that Milly and Tamiya were still following them. They took the elevator, dropping Jeremie off at the Lab. Jeremie took his seat at the console and started up the transfer procedure as the others went down to the Scanner Room.

"The tower is in the Mountain Sector!" Jeremie told the others.

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi went first.

"How are we going to deactivate the tower without Aelita?" Yumi asked the all-important question.

"I was thinking one of you could do it!" Jeremie said. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

"I can't believe it! Our first mission, Laura!" Sissi said excitedly.

"Yeah." Laura said.

"I hate to rush you, but Aelita and Xana are in danger! Get into the scanners!" Jeremie said.

"Will do, Jeremie!" William replied. "C'mon, ladies."

They stepped into the scanners.

"Transfer William. Transfer Sissi. Transfer Laura. Scanner William. Scanner Sissi. Scanner Laura. Virtualization." Jeremie said.

He then noticed Milly and Tamiya in front of the elevator.

"Ugh. They disobeyed me. Just like Sissi and Laura. Not to worry though. These two are not getting by me." He said.

He locked the elevator so Milly and Tamiya couldn't use it.

"Guys, just to give you a heads-up, Milly and Tamiya followed us to the factory!" Jeremie told the others.

"Considering their journalists, this doesn't surprise me!" Odd remarked.

"Well, Odd! I don't want Mr. Delmas finding out about this again!" Jeremie said to him. "Enough about that though! I'm sending you your vehicles!"

After the vehicles materialized, Odd took the Overboard and Ulrich and Yumi took the Overbike, leaving Sissi and Laura with the Overwing.

"Head northeast! That's where the activated tower is!" Jeremie told them.

The Warriors took off for the tower.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aelita and Xana were in a sealed room. They had been shoved in there and were now awaiting interrogation. In the mean time, the two sisters were trying to figure out X.A.N.A.'s motive.

"Why would X.A.N.A. turn me in like this? Is he trying to protect Carthage?" Aelita asked.

"I'm not sure. However, I am sure that Alan is behind this." Xana said.

"You think he wants something from me?" Aelita asked.

"Who knows?" Xana said. "There's something that bothers me though. X.A.N.A. said that he was counting on Jeremie and the others deactivating the tower. What do you think he means by that?"

"All I know is that Jeremie needs to launch a Return to the Past in order to get us back. X.A.N.A.'s not linked to the Supercomputer anymore, so he won't get stronger." Aelita said.

"Wait a second. What if Alan's trying to strengthen his supercomputer? We never thought about whether or not his supercomputer becomes more powerful along with ours." Xana said.

"If that's the case, then he must be planning something big. Like when you used the power to create the Scyphozoa or to possess people." Aelita said.

"Whatever it is, it's not good." Xana said.


	14. Alan's Surprise

Yumi and the others reached the tower to see that five Kankrelats and two Bloks were guarding it.

"What? That's it? This is too easy!" Odd exclaimed. "Laser Arrows!"

Odd fired some arrows at the Kankrelats, destroying two of them. Ulrich jumped off the Overbike and ran towards a Blok, slashing a Kankrelat along the way. The Blok and his buddy started firing lasers at him. Ulrich dodged them and continued running to the Blok.

"Impact!" Ulrich yelled as he stabbed one of his swords into the Blok's Eye.

The Blok exploded.

"Take this!" Laura cried as she pulled out a laser gun and shot a laser at one of the remaining Kankrelats.

The Kankrelat was destroyed. Laura was in a dark blue jumpsuit with light blue lines around it. Imagine she walked off the set of TRON and that's her outfit. She has two laser guns on her waist, one of which she had just used on the Kankrelat. Sissi, meanwhile, was in what looked like a two-piece swimsuit and wielded a staff-like baton.

"I'll let you have the last one, Sissi!" Laura said.

"Thank you, Laura!" Sissi said as she ran toward the last Kankrelat.

The Kankrelat wouldn't make it easy and fired lasers at her. Sissi dodged them and knocked the Kankrelat off the edge. It fell into the Digital Sea, exploding in a column of light. Yumi took care of the last Blok with one of her fans. She ran into the tower and levitated up onto the second platform. She put her hand on the screen that came up. Her name came up and then the word "Code". Yumi put in the code "Lyoko" and the screens around the tower fell, meaning the tower as deactivated.

"This was too easy, Jeremie! Something's up!" Yumi said.

"I agree! Regardless, we have to go back in time in order to get Aelita and Xana back!" Jeremie said.

"Go back in time?" asked a voice.

Jeremie turned and facepalmed. Milly and Tamiya had found the other way down. They were climbing down the ladder and had heard Jeremie. It didn't matter though, as their memories would soon be erased.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremie said as he hit the Enter key.

A white bubble came out of the computer and engulfed the factory, rewinding back to earlier that afternoon.

* * *

The gang was back at the table eating lunch, Aelita and Xana included.

"Well, looks like you guys have done it again." Xana said.

However, she and Aelita didn't look all that happy. Jeremie noticed this.

"What's wrong?" He asked them.

"It's not that we're not happy to be back, but we have a feeling something bad is going to happen soon." Aelita said.

"What do you mean?" Yumi asked.

"We've reached the conclusion that us getting kidnapped was merely a setup. It was carried out so that Jeremie would be forced to use a Return to the Past. As a result, Alan's supercomputer got stronger and he can now enact his real plan. We don't know what that plan is, but it cannot be good." Xana explained.

"I knew it was too easy!" Odd said. "That's why X.A.N.A. sent his weaker monsters to guard the tower, so that the tower would be deactivated easily and Jeremie would launch a Return to the Past as soon as possible! We've got ourselves a real Einstein! One smarter than our Einstein! No offense, Jeremie!"

"None taken, Odd, because he is smarter than me." Jeremie said as he hung his head low.

"So was I, Jeremie, being a multi-agent program and all. When I created the ghost channel, I thought I knew everything about humanity. I knew nothing of friendship or bravery. I went by logic and thought you would be too afraid to virtualize yourself. Of course, you proved me wrong by facing your fear of the scanners and coming to stop me. Or, when you saw through my façade as Franz Hopper, outsmarted me again with a clone of Aelita, and was able to undo my modifications. As you said in the ghost channel, I'm just as capable of making mistakes as you are. I've probably learned more from you all than you from me. Besides, you had no choice. It was that or letting X.A.N.A. win, leaving Aelita and I at the mercy of the Men In Black." Xana said.

"I know." Jeremie said. "If you're right, Xana, then it's time we took the offensive."

"Do you still have the Anti-X.A.N.A. program?" Xana asked. "If so, we can use it to destroy X.A.N.A. once and for all. I know that it sounds weird coming from me, but I mean it. I swore to make up for what I did and that's the best way to do it, aside from destroying Carthage. Speaking of Carthage, we could create a program to destroy it as well. I know this is asking a lot, but it would mean so much to me." She said.

She put her hand out for Jeremie to shake. Jeremie smiled.

"Considering the fact that I was able to create the program at all, it's not asking a lot at all. Let's do it." He said as he took Xana's hand.

Odd smirked as they let go of each other's hand. Aelita raised an eyebrow at this and smirked, too.

"You're not thinking of another 'Mrs. Einstein' joke, are you? As I told you before, Odd, there's only one Mrs. Einstein and that's me." Aelita said.

This made everyone laugh, including Odd. The day went on without any problems. Ulrich walked Yumi home that night. Ulrich decided that now would be a good time to tell her how he felt. As usual, however, he just couldn't say it. Yumi picked up on this, though.

"Ulrich, I've waited long enough. Just say it already." Yumi said to him.

"Okay. Okay. Yumi, I…uh…I like you…uh… very much." Ulrich said.

Yumi kissed him before he could say anything else. It ended as soon as it began.

"See you tomorrow, Ulrich." Yumi said.

Ulrich recovered from his shock and walked back to his room pleased with himself. Everyone fell asleep that night, dreaming of a new day.

* * *

Someone was not asleep though.

"At last, I can do _this_!" Alan said as he launched his newest program.

He had to activate five towers to do so, but it was worth it. A white column enveloped the city and soon enough, it was gone. Our heroes would wake up to one heck of a surprise the next morning.


	15. Monsters Galore!

The gang woke up the next morning feeling normal. They ate breakfast and went back to their rooms to hang out, while Ulrich went to Yumi's house. Jeremie, Aelita, and Xana were in Jeremie's room getting to work on the program that would destroy Carthage. Of course, they didn't know how they would go about creating such a program.

"If only Franz Hopper were here, then we might have some idea as to how to make the program." Jeremie sighed.

Xana hung her head. Aelita saw this and put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"It's all right, Xana. My father sacrificed himself for us, so that we could destroy X.A.N.A. and save the world. Feeling guilty isn't going to help us do that again." She said to Xana.

"Aelita's right, Xana. And, besides, it's not like you destroyed Hopper. If I'm right, it was X.A.N.A." Jeremie said.

"Sounds like you figured it out, Einstein." Xana said to him. "That's right. I had split from X.A.N.A. before Hopper's demise. The agents that make me up hid in a tower in the Forest Sector. So, yes, I myself didn't destroy Franz Hopper. I still feel responsible though."

"Don't worry, Xana. Now that we know that it wasn't your fault, we forgive you." Aelita said to her.

"Thanks, Aelita." Xana said.

"In any case, Franz Hopper not being here is going to make things harder. I mean think about it. We wouldn't have been able to defeat X.A.N.A. without Franz Hopper's help. I don't remember anything in his diary that would help us." Jeremie said.

"Wait a minute, that's it!" Xana said.

"What's it, Xana?" Aelita asked.

"As you know, I was created to destroy Carthage. There might be something in Sector 5 that could help us. After all, it was my home." Xana explained.

"Aelita did find your code there once. We should go there. Let's call the others." Jeremie said.

And so they did.

Ulrich was hanging out with Yumi when his phone rang. It was Jeremie.

"Yeah, Jeremie?" Ulrich answered.

"We're going to Sector 5. Meet us at the sewer entrance." Jeremie said.

"Okay, Jeremie." Ulrich said as hung up. "We're heading to the factory. I think there's something in Sector 5 that Jeremie's looking for."

"A data-gathering mission? Haven't been on one of those in a long time." Yumi said.

William had left Yumi alone ever since X.A.N.A. was defeated. He was hanging out in his room when his phone rang. Xana was calling him.

"What can I do for you, mistress?" William asked jokingly.

"Very funny, William." Xana said sarcastically. "We're going to gather some data from Sector 5. Meet us at the sewer entrance."

Xana then hung up. William got up and walked out of his room.

Odd was hanging out with his friend Samantha when his phone rang. Aelita was calling him.

"What's up, Princess?" Odd asked her.

"Xana thinks there's something in Sector 5 that'll help us. Meet us at the sewer entrance." Aelita said.

"All right, Princess. I'll be there." Odd said as he hung up. "Sorry, Sam. I've gotta be somewhere. Catch ya later."

"All right, Odd. See ya." Samantha said.

Odd left without another word.

The gang reaches the sewer, sans Sissi and Laura.

"What about Sissi and Laura?" Yumi asked.

"I don't think we really need them for this mission. Plus, they should stay here in case Alan or X.A.N.A. does something." Jeremie answered. 

They all went through the sewers and arrived at the factory. They took the elevator, leaving Jeremie in the Lab. They exited into the Scanner Room.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization." Jeremie said.

They landed in the Arena.

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Xana. Transfer William. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Xana. Scanner William. Virtualization."

They joined the others in the Arena. They all left for the Core Zone. Going through the Core Zone was a breeze as the Creepers left them alone. They soon arrived at the Celestial Dome.

"Keep a lookout for Mantas!" Jeremie said.

"Relax, Einstein! I doubt they'd go after us with Xana here!" Odd said to him.

Aelita and Xana were looking through the data to find what they needed. It took a while, but at last they found what they were looking for.

"Yes!" Xana cried. "I knew it had to be here somewhere! We're sending it to you, Jeremie!"

Aelita sent it and it appeared on Jeremie's screen.

"I got it, Xana! I'm bringing you guys back!" Jeremie said.

They were soon back in the Lab waiting for Jeremie to finish analyzing the data. Aelita and Xana were sitting next to him on either side.

"You know, Einstein. I'm jealous of you. You have a pretty girl flanking you on either side. Meanwhile, I've yet to actually get a girl." Odd remarked.

"That's usually because you don't stay in a relationship with one for more than a week at the least." Yumi said.

This makes everyone laugh.

"Oh, sure, laugh it up." Odd said.

Unbeknownst to them, a big black ball was rolling into the city. Some people saw it as they were walking by. They stopped to see what it was. It stopped before an intersection. People got curious and walked up to it to see it more closely. Suddenly, Eyes appeared on it and it opened up, revealing itself to be a Megatank. Startled, people started to back away from it as it started to charge its laser. It then fired into the nearby traffic and destroyed some cars and some buildings. Fearing for their lives, people fled the scene as the Megatank continued its rampage.

This wasn't all, though. Some students were walking around Kadic. Milly and Tamiya in particular were by the cafeteria. They were talking when they saw a cockroach monster coming towards them. It was a Kankrelat, of course, but they didn't know that.

"What on Earth is that thing?" Tamiya asked.

"I don't know, Tamiya. But, it doesn't look friendly. We better go." Milly said.

Milly was right, as the Kankrelat started to fire its laser at them. The girls managed to dodge the lasers and ran as fast as they could with the Kankrelat in pursuit. Soon, a few more Kankrelats and two Bloks appeared, spreading out all around the campus.

Meanwhile, back at the factory, Jeremie had finished analyzing the data collected from Sector 5.

"It's some sort of program to destroy Carthage from the inside. It's a multi-agent program, like my Anti-X.A.N.A. Program. It seems the idea was for X.A.N.A. to activate the towers on Lyoko in order to execute the program and destroy Carthage with it. Of course, this didn't happen, as X.A.N.A. became self-aware and formed his own agenda. You all know the rest." Jeremie explained.

"I don't." William said. "Could someone fill me in?"

"It's like this, William." Xana explained. "Aelita's father, Franz Hopper, once worked on a military project called Project Carthage. He saw the danger in the project and left. He took his wife, Anthea, and Aelita with him. Back then he went by his real name, Waldo Schaeffer. Soon, an organization called the Men In Black, who worked with the researchers, took Anthea away. Franz didn't give in, though, and took Aelita with him to Sceaux. He changed his name to Franz Hopper and taught at Kadic. All the while, he came here, to the factory, and worked on the Supercomputer, along with Lyoko and yours truly. He soon discovered the Return to the Past program and used it thousands of times, constantly reliving June 6. The Men In Black found him again and Franz took Aelita and hid on Lyoko. His troubles weren't over yet, though. The Return to the Past adds one qubit or quantum bit to the Supercomputer, making it more powerful than before. However, I got more powerful as well, to the point of becoming self-aware. When Franz and Aelita came to Lyoko, I betrayed them and trapped them on Lyoko. The program we found, I was supposed to execute it using the towers on Lyoko, destroying Carthage. But instead, as you well know, I used the towers to attack the real world. Now you know the story. Any questions, William?" Xana asked.

"Yeah. When did Franz Hopper teach at Kadic?" William asked.

"About 10 years ago. Mr. Delmas seems to be the only one who knows him. Jim might remember him too. Both were at Kadic when Franz taught there." Xana said.

"Wait a second. Then shouldn't Aelita be a lot older than she is now?" William asked.

"That's the strange thing, William." Aelita said. "My father probably made it so we wouldn't age on Lyoko. There are still things we don't know, William."

"Oh. Okay." William said.

"In any case, we now have a way to destroy Carthage, and hopefully X.A.N.A. with it." Jeremie said.

Before he could say any more, the phone rang on the Supercomputer. Jeremie turned to see that Laura was calling them. He answered it.

"Laura?" Jeremie asked. "What's up?"

"You won't believe it, but there are monsters everywhere!" Laura said. "Check the news if you don't believe me!"

Jeremie turned on the news for everyone to see.

"Monique Bonaparte here reporting on the strange creatures that are invading the city! We've also received word that some creatures are attacking Kadic Academy as well! God help us all!" The reporter said.

The gang saw the Megatank from earlier, which has now been joined by two Tarantulas. They're shocked to say the least. Jeremie went to check the Superscan. To his surprise, there were no activated towers anywhere.

"This doesn't make any sense. Could X.A.N.A. have found a way to attack without activating a tower?" Jeremie pondered.

"In any case, Einstein, we better get back to the school and defeat the monsters. If there aren't any activated towers, then we don't really need to be here, do we?" Odd asked.

"Actually, Odd, I wouldn't be any good to you there. You guys get to the school, I'll try to figure out how X.A.N.A. is sending these monsters." Jeremie said.

"All right, Jeremie." Aelita said. "Be safe."

Everyone but Jeremie got into the elevator and took it up to the factory entrance.


End file.
